Leopard 3 claims inaugural Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship

A prolonged Mistral may have restricted racing this week at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, but the Costa Smeralda saved the best to last, with a dramatic adrenaline-fuelled final day that saw winds reaching the mid-20s. After a windward leg west, Maxi 1 and 2 headed south to round the islands of Mortorio and Soffi on a 42.5 mile course, then heading north to join the remaining classes which were sailing a 34.5 mile clockwise lap of La Maddalena.

The pinnacle event of the maxi calendar was organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association and this year, for the first time, featured the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship, for yachts with a 1.700-2.200 IRC rating and <30.51m (100ft) LH.

Wednesday's two windward-leewards - won respectively by Karel Komarek's 100ft V and Alessandro Del Bono's brand new 82ft Capricorno – had left Wendy Schmidt's 85ft Deep Blue overall leader. However today Deep Blue's chance evaporated after they suffered batten pocket damage. They effected a repair and finished but were sadly out of the running.

Coming into her own today was Joost Schuijff's Leopard 3. Victory today for the Farr 100 saw her win the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship by a clear three points from the 82ft Django HF with V third (but tied on points with Deep Blue and YCCS Commodore Andrea Recordati's 93ft Bullitt).

 

“This is a dream come true,” commented a delighted Schuijff. “We have been working hard for years on the boat, on the team and on the quality of my helming. We’ve trained frequently and had a training week in July when we ironed out some problems we had. Last year we had issues with several of the big sails, which we didn’t have this year. Now the quality of our equipment is good and nothing failed…”

Under previous owner Mike Slade, Leopard 3 won the Maxi Racing class here in 2016. Last year dramatic upgrades were made to this 2007 Farr design, shedding roughly 10 tonnes. This season America’s Cup winner and multiple World Champion Ed Baird and Volvo Ocean Race winner Mike Sanderson have joined her afterguard. Optimised for inshore and offshore racing, Leopard 3 enjoyed the big conditions. Schuijff concluded: “Windward-leeward is not our strongest spot. We were hoping the weather today would develop, as it did, with more reaching.”

Mike Sanderson added: “Today was really good - the pressure was funnelling down through Bomb Alley so we wanted to go right and we started by the race committee boat. Ed did a good job at getting us off the line and it all went really well. We broke a furler and couldn’t deploy from the top mark, but the team knows the boat so well and Joost drives the boat really nicely.”

In Maxi 2 (for the former Maxi 72s), first place today, by a mere 20 seconds under IRC corrected time, for George and Christina Sakellaris’ Proteus left them tied, but winning on countback from Peter Harrison's Jolt. “It was a great race in excellent conditions. This boat likes wind, heavy weather, provided it doesn’t get above 30 knots,” said Sakellaris, who shared helming with his daughter. Ironically while this title last year was won by Hap Fauth’s Bella Mente, perhaps the most upgraded of the former Maxi 72s, Proteus remains in Maxi 72 trim. This is the first time the Sakellarises have won this title, after many years of trying.

Proteus’ strategist, round the world veteran Stu Bannatyne added: “There are a lot of relieved and happy people! It was a fun day, but very challenging for the crew. We made it hard for ourselves: early on we made a few mistakes, but everyone dug in well and we clawed our way back…”

After Wednesday’s race Juan Ball’s Swan 115 Moat had led the Supermaxi class, but a win today for Niklas Zennström and Filip Engelbert’s 43.6m Svea caused the Swedish J to claim the Super Maxi Class on countback. This was Svea’s third consecutive victory here and personally Zennström’s seventh (including his four previous Mini Maxi wins). Seeing the giants, thundering around the course in 20+ winds and a significant chop from the Strait of Bonifacio, was magnificent.

“It was very exciting - good fun,” commented Bouwe Bekking, Svea’s tactician. “Today was really nice. We had 18 knots in Bomb Alley and around 22-23 knots on the reach - it wasn’t honking.” This year Svea had a tighter race with Moat. “If you have a proper run it favours us, but reaching is quite tough against the modern boats,” concluded Bekking.

Like Proteus, Oscar 3, in Maxi 3, too often has been ‘bridesmaid but never the bride’. Aldo and Elena Parisotto rectified this today. While 2023 winner Jean-Pierre Barjon's 65ft Spirit of Lorina claimed today's breezy race, Oscar 3's second was enough to secure the black Mylius 65FD her first victory here following seconds in the last two editions.

“I can’t believe it,” enthused Parisotto. “It was very high stress but I am very happy with the boat. Today was not easy. I preferred the previous race because I drove better. Today the wind was very strong.” Oscar 3 also won the prize for the top IMA member.

Oscar 3’s tactician, former America’s Cup helmsman Paolo Cian added: “It is an achievement to win here. Today was a tough race because we were at the top wind limit. The guys did an incredible job managing boat speed and manoeuvres. We cut some corners compared to some other boats which was key to our second place today.”

One short of Zennström’s record here is Riccardo de Michele who scored his sixth Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup class win in Maxi 4, having participated every year since 2007. “It was very beautiful,” he commented. “The wind was at the upper limit for this boat. We broke our gennaker, but we had another…”

The Multihull class competed for the second time here having made its debut in 2023. While both days saw Lord Irvine Laidlaw’s Gunboat 80 Highland Fling 18 first home on the water to Adrian Keller’s 82ft Allegra, both races this week were won under ORCmh corrected time by Riccardo Pavoncelli’s Gunboat 66 Gaetana.

“This was my first attempt – I am very pleased,” said Pavoncelli. “We didn’t know the boat at all. We were very cautious but the boat went very well. The boat was designed for racing and I have a very good crew.” This included British multihull veteran and round the world race winner Brian Thompson. “We had some breakages, but that happens to everyone. We have never sailed the boat before in this much wind. We were doing 25 knots – I was very nervous!” The Multihull class seems set to swell for next year’s edition to five catamarans.

The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup was the penultimate event in the IMA’s 2024 Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge, which concludes next month with Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez.

by James Boyd/International Maxi Association